India’s wedding industry leads the world, with up to ten million weddings taking place annually. The industry is valued at USD 130 billion a year. Indians insist their weddings are the most luxurious and meaningful, in terms of both economic benefit to regions or the country and the deep cultural significance they embody. Ksenia Rybak explores how ancient wedding traditions are evolving under the influence of technology and examines the economic dimension of this transformation.
Siddharth, a 38-year-old from Maharashtra, met his Russian wife through a friend who was also married to a Russian woman. “Education and career ambition were important to me,” Siddharth told BRICS Business Magazine. “But, most of all, I cared about having shared values and her family background. That could only be assessed through people who knew us both well.”
Siddharth’s reference to pre-wedding consultations with acquaintances was no coincidence. In India, arranged marriages are still common. While, in the past, the families of potential brides and grooms were involved in the matchmaking to create a strong union aligned with strategic goals, especially in the case of influential families, social status or religion, nowadays introductions are made more often through friends or colleagues.
According to Siddharth, arranging matches for potential husbands or wives is an ancient tradition and still a highly effective one. For instance, in his big family, there are 26 cousins: “Three have international marriages, two met their partners at work, and the rest had arranged marriages, just like our parents did.”
This matchmaking tradition has been successfully digitized by the tech company Matrimony.com, one of India’s biggest marriage service providers. In FY 2024–2025, it posted USD 53 million in revenues and had a market cap of USD 132 million as of July 2025.
Founded in the early 2000s, Matrimony.com includes 300+ digital platforms and 130 offline matchmaking offices. Around 40 million people have used their services.
Profiles can be created not only for oneself but also for a daughter, son, sibling or friend, with modern tech virtually replicating traditional arranged marriages.
Their flagship platform, BharatMatrimony.com, is where founder and CEO Murugavel Janakiraman met his own wife. Users can seek partners by community, language, religion, age, location, profession, and even horoscope compatibility.
The company also offers niche services: EliteMatrimony.com (wealthy clients), DefenceMatrimony.com (military personnel), DivorceeMatrimony.com, AbilityMatrimony.com (for people with disabilities), Jodii (for people with various levels of education: higher, secondary or incomplete secondary, as well as for blue-collar workers).
The platform ManglikMatrimony.com was created for those unlucky enough to be born under a certain position of the planet Mars. Many Indians believe that the destructive energy of this planet can result in an unhappy marriage or even the death of a spouse. Those born under this inauspicious Mars, known as Mangliks, can neutralize its negative cosmic influence, among other ways, by marrying each other.
Matrimony.com’s project portfolio also includes platforms like WeddingBazar, which helps find wedding planners, and MandAp.com, a venue rental service. At the end of 2024, Matrimony.com announced the launch of a fintech platform called Weddingloans.com, where partner banks offer consumer loans specifically to cover wedding-related expenses.
Wedding planning is booming. Markets & Data estimated the sector at USD 6.42 billion in 2024, expected to grow to USD 16.53 billion by 2032.
A wedding is a vital part of the culture in India and one of the most significant events in a person’s life. That is why, as analysts at Markets & Data explain, there is a growing demand for well-planned and professionally organized celebrations and related events. “The rise of social media plays a key role in shaping consumer expectations,” the report states. “As a result, demand for exclusive and personalized weddings is increasing.”
The players on this market include big companies, boutique agencies and small entrepreneurs who assist with every aspect of wedding planning, from selecting and renting venues to organizing events and entertainment, catering, and finding outfits for the bride and groom.
Just like the search for a life partner, wedding planning in India is moving increasingly online.
WedMeGood is one of the biggest wedding planning platforms, with 1.5 million active users a month. The website and app feature over 80,000 vendors, from photographers to wedding celebrants. In addition to traditional wedding services, users can find digital invitation designers, wedding dance performance choreographers, bridal makeup artists and mehndi artists who apply mehndi, ritual henna designs to the bride’s hands and feet.
In December last year, WedMeGood published its annual wedding industry report, based on input from more than 3,500 couples and 500 wedding service providers. According to the report, 2024 saw a clear trend toward marriages later in life, reflecting changing personal and professional priorities. For the second year in a row, the average age for both love and arranged marriages was 28.
In 2024, 30% of Indian couples met online via social media, dating apps or matrimonial websites. Another 60% met offline, through family connections, at work or during events. The remaining 10% described their meeting as a hybrid of online and offline interaction. According to WedMeGood, Bumble and Hinge remain the most popular dating apps, while Shaadi.com continues to lead among matrimonial platforms.
Until recently, wedding costs in traditional Indian ceremonies were typically covered by the bride’s family. Now, however, WedMeGood reports a steady trend toward greater financial independence among young Indians. As of the end of 2024, around 80% of wedding costs were paid using personal or family savings, 12% of couples took out loans, while 6% sold assets to fund their weddings.
Main expenses: jewellery (37%), venue rental (30%), catering and decor (20% each). The average budget was INR 3.65 million (RUB 3.4 million), while a destination wedding cost around INR 5.1 million (RUB 4.7 million). A destination wedding is a full-scale celebration held in a different part of the country or abroad.
The study also highlights a growing trend of hiring professional wedding planners. These specialists are most often engaged for destination weddings, with 27% of such events involving professional organizers.
More than 50% of respondents opted for eco-friendly celebrations. Among them, 49% chose digital invitations, 41% donated left over food to those in need, 36% used artificial flowers, and 32% limited the use of plastic. In turn, service providers are promoting organic and locally sourced materials, offering more environmentally responsible options for décor and packaging. Yet, perhaps the most unexpected trend for a country with centuries-old jewellery traditions is the rise in lab-grown diamonds. Costing substantially less than natural stones, these diamonds were chosen by 45% of brides in India.
The trend toward mindful spending has also affected another key element of Indian weddings: the bride and groom’s attire, and sometimes even guests’ outfits.
“Renting wedding attire was once unheard of,” says Aanchal Saini, CEO of clothing and accessories rental platform Flyrobe, as quoted by The Economic Times. “Traditionally, wedding outfits were seen as heirlooms to be owned forever. But today’s brides and those attending ethnic events are leaning toward new experiences.”
Flyrobe was founded in 2015 and now operates as an online platform along with 17 offline stores offering selected garments and accessories for four-day rentals with nationwide delivery.
This model benefits both parties: those who want to rent luxury fashion at affordable prices and those who wish to give a second life to cherished pieces, acknowledging that a beloved wedding dress, though treasured, is unlikely to be worn repeatedly.
Flyrobe works with both local and international brands, mainly in the premium and mid-range segments, offering traditional ethnic, Indo-western and Western-style garments and accessories for rent. For example, a bridal look featuring premium brands can cost less than just USD 1,000. Renting a red couture lehenga, a traditional bridal outfit, by leading Indian designer Sabyasachi costs INR 44,800 (RUB 40,800), compared to a retail price of INR 500,000 (RUB 455,500). Dior sunglasses are available for INR 2,800 (RUB 2,500), an ethnic-style clutch bag for INR 690 (RUB 630), and a traditional jewellery set including a choker, earrings, and a maang tikka with rubies and diamonds in kundan setting, can be rented for just INR 1,400 (RUB 1,270).
Wedding of the Century
In the summer of 2024 India saw the wedding of the son of the country’s richest man. Anant Ambani’s bride was Radhika Merchant, daughter of a major pharmaceutical company owner. The three-day wedding of the century cost USD 600 million, with guests including Narendra Modi, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Mark Zuckerberg, the Beckhams and other members of the global rich and famous. Commentators note that the unprecedented scale of the celebrations reflects the growing financial power of ultra-rich Indians and prepares society for the imminent start of capital transfers to heirs.
India ranks first in the world not only in the number of weddings (followed by China and the United States), but most likely also in their grandeur. Indians will argue that their weddings are the most lavish and opulent not only in terms of the rich symbolism and traditions they embody but also the tangible economic impact they generate for their region or the country as a whole.
The peak season for Indian weddings in 2024 fell in November–December. According to data from the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), during just the period from 12 November to 16 December last year, there were expected to be 4.8 million wedding ceremonies, which would bring more than USD 71 billion into the country’s economy. Delhi’s share in these indicators is 450 thousand weddings and nearly USD 18 billion for the city budget.
For the same period in 2023, the numbers were smaller: 3.8 million weddings and over USD 56 billion respectively. CAIT calls this dynamic record-breaking and explains it by the increase in the number of astrologically favourable days for holding weddings from 11 in 2023 to 18 in 2024.
Overall, according to research firm Jefferies, India’s wedding industry is valued at USD 130 billion a year. About ten million weddings are held each year in the country and this figure will only grow. In the next 15 years, as analysts from Wright Research predict, some 600 million residents of India will marry, possibly bringing the total number of weddings up to 400 million.
Among the reasons for the explosive growth in weddings in the country, experts point to rapid urbanization, the rise of the middle class, and overall income levels. As noted by IBEF (a fund established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India), the Indian wedding sector has historically been largely unorganized in character, owing in part to limited online presence among suppliers and small-scale operations, as well as reliance on offline recommendations. Even so, in recent years, the industry has become increasingly innovative, with significant contributions being made by wedding technology players.
Substantial support for the industry is also provided by the government. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has announced plans to launch a programme called Wed in India (Marry in India) similar to the state programme Make in India (Produce in India). Meanwhile, the tourism ministry has launched an advertising campaign under the equally romantic title “India Says I Do”. The goal is to make India a leading wedding tourism destination, both local and international. This way, authorities also plan to attract wealthy Indians back from overseas remote weddings, which could bring another approximately USD 12 billion into the domestic economy.
Innovations and digital transformation will continue to influence the traditional lifestyle of Indians, improving but not eradicating deep-rooted traditions. India today is one of the countries with the most powerful startup ecosystems in the world. Here, it is fashionable not only to be a businessman yourself but also to support other entrepreneurs, the wedding industry being no exception.
“In Indian culture, tradition naturally coexists with innovation,” shares Lydia Kulik, head of India studies at SKOLKOVO School of Management, speaking to BRICS Business Magazine. “A large portion of India’s population consists of young people who readily embrace innovations with great interest.”
Thanks to robust digitization across the country, more and more Indians trust the Internet to resolve various issues, including everyday ones. As Lydia Kulik notes, “Digital biometric identification in India is widespread. Most Indians, even those living in rural areas, have affordable smartphones. Financial inclusion has increased, and India leads the world in instant payments. India introduced its fast payment system before Russia did.”
At the same time, Indians have immense respect for their centuries-old traditions. “Such cultural customs include cherishing family values, marriage, and the tradition of lavish wedding festivities. The divorce rate in India is very low (about 1%); here, people typically marry or enter into matrimony once in their life,” observes Lydia Kulik.
The nature of positive perception of digital changes by Indians is also described in the study conducted by SKOLKOVO School called Digitization of India: From Local Phenomenon to Global Factor. It states, “Perhaps Indians perceive revolutionary aspects of digitization positively because they view the world holistically. According to their understanding of how the universe works, change is the only constant, while destruction and creation belong to basic elements of nature. India embraces technology because it firmly believes in its cultural foundations and sees digitization as a means to enhance citizens’ quality of life rather than a challenge to its core values.”
My Big Fat Indian Wedding
In Indian culture, weddings are not the ordinary social events we are used to; instead, they are grand celebrations filled with sacred mysteries, rituals, and ceremonies. Their primary purpose is to create a prosperous and happy family. These celebrations usually last for three days or more, and their content and traditions can vary significantly depending on the region, religion and cultural heritage of the families involved. Here are some popular Hindu wedding traditions:
Muhurat
A propitious date for starting wedding celebrations. In Indian culture, a wedding marks a transition to a new chapter in life. According to Vedic astrology, if the Muhurat (auspicious date) is chosen correctly, the newlyweds receive maximum support from the universe.SangeetPre-wedding celebration with music and dance for the bride’s female family members.
Mehndi
A traditional North Indian wedding ceremony in which intricate henna patterns are applied to the bride’s hands and feet – and sometimes to those of all the women in the family – symbolizing blessings, protection, and prosperity in her future marriage.
Kanyadan
One of the most touching Hindu wedding rituals. Literally translated as “giving away the daughter”, Kanyadan involves the father of the bride joining the hands of the newlyweds while chanting mantras and pouring water over their palms, symbolizing transfer of his daughter to her husband.
Panigrahana
The groom takes the bride’s hand, signifying the impending union, and promising to protect her. He then makes vows before four gods representing knowledge, new beginnings, heaven and wealth while standing beside a burning holy fire.
Saptapadi
Tied together with a special knot, the bride and groom walk seven circles or take seven steps around the sacred fire, reciting vows of loyalty to each other. After completing the seventh circle, the marriage is considered complete.
Wedding Reception
The final event in the series of wedding celebrations where the couple appears publicly for the first time as husband and wife. The reception features music, dancing, and food, typical of many traditional Hindu weddings, without alcohol being served.
